Wet ‘N Wild

For the second week in a row the Chicago Fire played in cold and wet conditions. In what was a good game for the national TV audience on Fox Soccer Channel to watch, the wet conditions lead to some wild play that ended in a 2-2 draw.

A Julio Martinez goal from an outstanding cross by Marco Pappa gave the Fire an early 1-0 lead at the 14th minute mark which became the only goal of the first half. With the play being more and more affected by the rain, the action became sloppy but entertaining. The Wizards had their chances in the first half but missed more than one opportunity when a goal seemed assured, including an open chance by Kei Kamara. KC throughout the game was willing to take a shot at the net no matter what the distance. The Fire defense seemed unsure of themselves at times during the game, with the absence of Tim Ward due to injury appearing to be a factor. The Fire continued with their controlled passing game despite the rain and did have their chances as a result in both halves.

The rain seemed to let up a bit at the start of the second half and the Fire changed things up with Brian McBride coming on for Collins John and Mike Banner coming on for Julio Martinez, who had an injury in the first half. The Fire took a 2-0 lead early in the second half when Patrick Nyarko found Brian McBride free in front of the net and McBride did what he does best putting the ball into the net. The lead did not stay 2-0 long when Kei Kamara received a lead from Ryan Smith in the 50th minute who pivoted and turned with a blast that went past an out of position Fire net minder Andrew Dykstra for his fourth score of the season.